No Title
I have decided Not to Shop for anything at all until AFTER the American Thanksgiving. This way I can avoid the Christmas Rush just a little longer. (They are already playing Christmas Carols). Thanksgiving is now Pre-Christmas. I think Thanksgiving is such an innocent and genuine celebration. Just food. Just people. What more could one possibly want. Why is Christmas already doing its dance?
Yesterday The Matriarch and I drove up to Chicago to collect the first of the Thanksgiving Visitors. On our arrival back home I found a package addressed to Nanny Boo. In the box was a new dog coat. A working dogs coat. Red. I loved it. But The Moment I put the coat on Boo he went very quiet. His ears went flat. And he stood still. His behaviour became incredibly good. Leaving me he went and stood beside John’s brother, (a complete stranger to the dog) put one big paw on the man’s shoe, sat down leaning on his leg and stared back at me. Still and silent in his beautiful red coat.
It was late .. about 9.30 m or something but I put my own coat on and the dogs and I went out to check the animals. Boo, still dressed in his coat, stuck so close to my side I could barely walk. He did not grab at sticks or chase Ton just walked right at my heel. Sitting when I stopped, pacing exactly at my heel. His good behaviour was unsettling.
I went in and checked the pigs, then came back out through the gate shutting it behind me. Boo always jumps through the gate. Ton and I were at the verandah already before we realised that Boo was not with us. I whistled and heard Boo crying. I turned the torch back on and walked back out to the pasture and there he was, on the wrong side of the gate, he would not jump over. I had to open it for him.
The jacket felt like a tether to him. So he could not jump. His personality was suddenly sedate and good. And scary.
I took the dog jacket off, it was all too much. A well behaved Nanny Boo was way too much for me to handle. 
We will try again today.
Love your friend on the farm
celi
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Poor Boo, sounds like he thought you were punishing him – some dogs just don’t like clothes 🙂 Elsie is a small cow, Aunty Dell will be towering over her very soon. Our Chistmas carols have been blaring in the shops since mid October, drives me nuts. Laura
I envy your incredible energy!
Poor Boo.
Bless him.
Poor Boo. Those clothes are often just so wrong for dogs. We have one for the puppy who really needs it in the cold (as I’m sure Boo does too), but he always eyes me very reproachfully. How could? he says…
How could you? I meant to say.
Poor Boo. I think he needs to sleep with that coat a bit, till it smells right and properly doggy. It’s probably a bit stiff still, too. Either he’ll get used to it, or you’ll get to like a well behaved Boo. I suspect the former!
Some dogs just hate having anything on, even a collar. Hope you have better success to day C.
Have a lovely day.
🙂 Mandy xo
I’ve heard that anything that causes pressure on a dog’s back is interpreted by them as a demand for their submission. This seems to prove that theory. I heard this on a BBC program about dogs and cats.
How odd that must have been to see Boo like that, not his usually bubbliy self. I’m with Kate. Maybe he just needs to muck it up a bit before it doesn’t feel like a tether. Elsie looks misshapen from that angle or maybe the calf in her belly is shifted to one side, but she is a beautiful cow. Does Aunty Del like having a new friend?
His coat might act like the ones they call Thunder shirt which is used to calm a dog of cat. I have one for my boy to use when it thunders.
I need 4 red coats for my dogs then…to have then quiet , obedient and behave properly would be perfection……At the moment they would just chew them up just like they do their bedding and everything else that they can get their teeth into
Thanksgiving has morphed into Christmas because there just isn’t enough money to be made off Thanksgiving. It’s a sad state of affairs. Black Friday is bad enough, but now Thanksgiving itself is becoming the frenzied day of shopping for bargains and consumerist craziness.
LOL. Reminds me of the time I put a harness on a cat to take her outside when I lived next to a busy road and she flopped upside down on the living room rug and pretended to be dead. Poor Boo. Extra doggie treat for him. 😀
I’m with you. I’d like Christmas to hold off until at least Thanksgiving evening after the dishes are all put up.
Sweet Boo. He’ll get the hang of it. Maybe put it where he sleeps and let his scent get all over it for a bit.
Other than your calendars, I haven’t started my shopping for Christmas! Poor Boo, maybe red isn’t his color. Elsie looks like she’s carrying her calf to the side like Daisy did…or is that what all cows do?
“Miss C, I do not like my Sunday best. May I have my dungarees? Please?”
Poor lad, he’s managed with his own coat so far, who needs a red one?! After looking after those kittens so well yesterday too!
Christine
Poor Boo – as RecyclerSA said, I think he feels like he’s being punished. However, he might appreciate the coat when it gets colder or when he gets older. The gift was a very kind thought though, regardless.
I was in Sainsbury’s today (Islington at midday) and was offered luxury Christmas Pudding and Muscat dessert wine – I accepted both most graciously, but it does seem terribly early (in the year not day) 😉
I’m with the “let him sleep on it and get used to it” brigade. Does he let you put a blanket on him on cold nights? Nice to see the two cows together. Aunty Del must love having a companion.
I know you said Elsie was bred but it didn’t really register until I saw that picture. So you literally bought two cows in one! (Unless it’s a bull calf, but you know what I mean.) Del is getting so big. She looks very square and cow-shaped in that shot, like she’s lost her calf-neck. I know the rest of Christendom is already embracing the Christmas season, but I, too, have a hard time before Thanksgiving. It just seems abnormal.
I was once disturbed about the overlay of Christmas selling with the Thanksgiving season too. But I just put it in the same perspective I have put big weeds in the summer. When they get out of hand and beyond my control I start calling them “jungle vegetation” and I can appreciate them in a whole new way. With the rushing Christmas problem I turn it around and call it an extended celebration – looking beyond the obvious consumer appeal – I hum along to the Christmas carols and enjoy the bright splashes of red and green. And I never buy a thing till after Thanksgiving! Way after Thanksgiving.
I know of a therapy dog who is very rambunctious most of the time, but when he gets his visiting clothes on, all that is forgotten and he’s all professional. It was a very kind gift, maybe he’ll come to appreciate it. Or not…
I’m with you on Thanksgiving. Growing up we didn’t do any Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving. I was told that Walmart has had Christmas trees for sale since September! I’m a grinch until December then it’s on! 🙂
I believe I must get a coat for my Willis! He loves our daily walks through the neighborhood, but he dragged me down again yesterday. He has to be on leash when we walk but he’s just way too strong, and way too friendly. Every time he sees a “friend”, he can hardly contain himself.
My favorite holiday has always been Thanksgiving. It’s a shame what we have turned Christmas into – I can only handle one holiday at a time!
My cat did the same thing as Veronica’s, I put a Halloween hoodie on her and she fell over and just stared, like she was comatose, I took pictures, then took it off. That’s a cat though.
Boo might be embarrassed, dogs are funny like that.
Robin🐥
When i put a leash on my cat he gripped the sidewalk and wouldn’t get up. My Dobe in his red parka wouldn’t move. Maybe youcan save Boo’s lovely coat for him when he reaches Big Dog’s advanced age and maybe then he will appreciate it. Or until then, as Kate suggested, just let him use it to lie on.
I’m surprised Elsie is smaller than I imagined. Still beautiful however and so is Auntie Dell.
What Boo needs is a backpack to wear – it will add some warmth to him and give you a place to store your flashlight, bits of wire and string, batteries, and dog treats 🙂 Just don’t let him put a kitten in the panniers.
I had thought about that, especially when we walk in the summer.. . c
Service dogs/military dogs wear coats/vests when they are on duty and certain behavior/ close attention is necessary. The dogs shouldering great responsibility. Perhaps Boo doesn’t know what it expected of him when he has this on? Sees it as a “work” cue not a keep warm item. Sleeping on it might be good. Or talking as you put it on..they do understand a lot.
Molly detested her harness (and managed to instantly eat several – so fast, i can’t even explain how – turn your back for one second to open the door and it was too late.) She cannot wear normal collars for walking due to abuse to her neck and throat. Then somehow she connected going out to see friends with the harness and gladly stands for it. I say “Molly, time to go. I’ve got my coat/purse and you need your jewelry (as we call her harness) so we can go”
Somehow Boo need to make the connection to “I put on a coat and you need to put on a coat in cole weather”
But a young dog with heavy fur may just think it’s silly – who’s cold outside Boo wonders? Just run more! (Boo, it’s much too cold during parts of the winter!
Red is good!)
Celi, there is a product on the market called the Thundershirt. (http://www.thundershirt.com) It is purported to calm down dogs with jangled nerves (think thunder storms). Now I wonder about its effect on your dog. Is it really soothing or is it scaring your dog into submission? Hmmm…
As for Christmas, you asked: “Why is Christmas already doing its dance?” It is because of Madison avenue and its desire for the almighty dollar! More days to sell, more days to rake it in. We used to hate it when the Christmas season stole Thanksgiving’s moments, but heck, if you shop the big box and department stores it is now creeping into Halloween’s celebration.
We will now be wishing a Merryhallowthankmus to all!
~L
Poor Boo. He must have felt like he was being punished in that coat. That’s all you need – a fashionista for a dog! 🙂
My Mirrhi is the same as Boo, I bought her a rain coat and she won’t move in it, and she’s already a good and obedient dog, I can walk her anywhere off lead, at heel, she instantly obeys lots of commands. But is not happy with a raincoat on……so she just gets wet now. She doesn’t like a blanket on or under her either……….she’s a working dog breed like Boo, maybe it’s something innate in the breed that they feel coats are unnecessary or just plain restricting.
When i go out he goes to his corner in the barn and waits there, while I am gone. I found him shivering in his wee bed the other day, hence the coat for when he is waiting outside.. He will not wait INside, he has taken out screens and hung on handles to get the doors open if he is left inside when I drive off. He certainly moves too fast to need it when we are working. He also rides on the back of the truck to the other barn, Ton tucks himself behind the cab but Boo has to be out in the wind! We will see how it goes .. he was fine with it this morning. c
Well, good if he’ll wear it, I forget how cold it gets there, our winters are hardly cold and today is around 40C ….no coats needed!
I wonder if Boo has the thick undercoat my cattle dog Bo had. She liked her bed & blankets but never needed a coat. She would also do the paw on the foot, lean on the leg thing, but with my Dad.
It’s best to stay out of the stores for a while now. I never used to even think about Christmas until early December after my birthday but now I get in early. Other than pre/Christmas groceries and weekly fresh stuff, my gift etc shopping is done. It feels incredibly good. I love Christmas but hate the commercial culture of buy-on-demand occasions.
I love that lean on the leg and foot on the foot thing, he usually only does it with me so when he stood on the new guys foot it was a bit strange. .. c
Maybe it is the ‘new’ smell that puts Boo off. Would it help to put the jacket over your knees when you are at the computer, that way it would be your scent and not that of the fabric, that Boo would smell.
I have been ‘involved’ with training seeing-eye dogs for a number of years. They get taught that when their coat [not so much for warmth, but so ‘SEDA’ is visible and they are allowed onto trains and buses and into restaurants] is on it is ‘serious work time’, once it comes off they are allowed to ‘muck up’ 🙂 ! Perhaps it comes instinctively ? And, oh, it IS lovely to live in the country and not hear ‘I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus’ six times during one shopping expedition 🙂 !
You will remember that Logan my eldest son has the avalanche dogs.. and until you said that I had forgotton about his dog Kai being a brat until the coat went on.. very good point eha mama.
[biggest smile] . . . dogs are ‘clever people’ . . as you and I know . . . Kai and Logan will be busy soon . . .
Looks like Elsie and Auntie Del are having some girl talk. 🙂 Sweet Nanny Boo.
It’s so comforting to read to comments to your post, Celi. It brings me back to the days of young mothers discussing the perplexing questions their toddlers raise.